Profile of the Day: Martin Van Buren

Do you know who was the first U.S. President to be born a United States citizen? Martin Van Buren, the 8th President of the United States, was born December 5, 1782 in Kinderhook, New York. Before President Van Buren, all previous presidents were born in the British colonies before the American Revolution, and therefore were British subjects.

Image: Martin Van Buren / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution CC0

Van Buren’s third great grandfather, Cornelis Maessen van Buren, came to the Americas in 1631 from what is today the Netherlands. Did you know he is also the only president to not have spoken English as his first language? He grew up speaking Dutch in his small community and learned English while attending school. In 1807, Van Buren married Hannah Hoes, who was also his first cousin once removed through his mother.

Van Buren was sworn in as the 8th President of the United States in 1837 and served only one term as president. Although he ran for re-election in 1840, Van Buren was ultimately defeated by William Henry Harrison.

On July 24, 1862, Van Buren died at the age of 79. He was burred in the Kinderhook Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery.

View Martin Van Buren’s Geni Profile